by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

They make mistakes. I make mistakes. You make mistakes. The players make mistakes.

Unlike the rest of us, though, the umpires never get praised. If they do their job, we are silent. If they mess up, we turn into a mob.

Don't get me wrong. If there are changes that will improve the system, then bring them on. In the wake of crew chief Fieldin Culbreth's two-game suspension Friday, I talked to three umpires â?? who were told by Major League Baseball to keep their mouths shut â?? and they believe it's clear something drastic needs to be done.

But it's not what you think. It's accountability.

The umpires, just like everybody else, have to be accountable for their mistakes.

MLB made that clear in revealing Culbreth's suspension and fines to his three crewmates: Brian O'Nora, Bill Welke and Adrian Johnson.

It was not leaked. It was not rumored. It was formally announced, just like player and manager suspensions and drug penalties.

So if you make a fundamental mistake and botch an elementary rule that even Little League coaches know, MLB is going to embarrass you.

They made sure to shame Culbreth and his crew. And think how bad it could have been for all parties if the Los Angeles Angels had not rallied in the game in question Thursday night to beat the Houston Astros.

If the Astros had won, the Angels' protest would have stood, according to an MLB executive who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The game would have been replayed from the point that Astros manager Bo Porter made an illegal pitching substitution, and it would have humiliated MLB.

"Umpires are the custodians of the game here," MLB executive vice president Joe Torre said in a Friday interview on the MLB Network. "They're the people we all look to. Unfortunately they messed it up.

"It certainly isn't a reflection of Fieldin Culbreth. I'd go to war to him and still would. No excuse; they just kicked it."

Uh, yeah, about 40 yards wide right.

The scenario occurred when Porter, the Astros' rookie manager, inserted left-handed relief pitcher Wesley Wright into the game with runners on second and third and the Astros leading 5-3. Angels manager Mike Scioscia countered by sending up right-handed pinch-hitter Luis Jimenez.

Porter realized the mismatch and stopped Wright in the middle of his warm-up pitches. He called on right-hander Hector Ambriz.

One problem. Wright never made a pitch, let alone faced a batter, violating Rule 3.05 (b):

"A pitcher inserted into the game must face at least one batter, unless injury or illness prevents him from doing so.''

There was no injury. Scioscia went ballistic. Culbreth and his crew huddled at least three times before making the call. They permitted the substitution and the Angels played the game under protest, which was waived when they won.

Porter, who believed the rule was changed last winter, called Culbreth and apologized, and told reporters, "Me personally, I want to apologize to the whole crew. I stand corrected. Mike Scioscia was right. I feel bad I put (the umpires) in that position.''

It indeed has been an ugly 48 hours with umpire Angel Hernandez and his crew blowing the home-run call in Cleveland, not seeing, even on replay, that Oakland's Adam Rosales had hit a game-tying homer for the A's in the ninth inning. It was ruled a double, and the Indians won 4-3.

MLB, embarrassed by the call, made sure that Hernandez and his crew were embarrassed, too. They sent out an e-mail saying the call was in error, and even sent Randy Marsh, director of umpires, to Cleveland to speak to Hernandez and his crew.

Oh yeah, and to make matters worse, Marsh revealed the replay equipment was in perfect working order and the TVs were in high-definition.

"We screwed it up,'' Torre said. "Unfortunately we have to pay the consequences.''

Still, that was a judgment call, with bad judgment, and there were no fines.

The call in the Angels-Astros game was a blatantly blown call, not by sight, but simply by forgetting a simple rule.

"I talked to Fieldin a couple times today," Torre said, "and can't tell you how bad he feels."

Yet, these days, we are impatient. Society is intolerant. There are too many cameras. Too many Twitter accounts.

You make a mistake, you own it.

This shouldn't be a condemnation of the umpires. They're the guys you want over at your neighborhood barbecue, or sitting around and listening to stories at your favorite bar.

And yes, they are the best in the world at their craft.

Yet, the time has come for accountability.

It should be OK for umpires to openly talk after games, discuss calls and, whether right or wrong, let them have their say.

MLB encourages umpires to be miked during games, well, tell them it's OK to talk after games, too.

Maybe, MLB is right in its stance that, as evidenced by the Hernandez blunder, we are not quite ready for expanded replay. If technology isn't foolproof on home-run calls, how in the world are we going to properly call all of the caught and trapped balls in the outfield, fair or foul down the lines, or even calls at the bases?

The blown home-run call will set back expanded replay for months.

The blown rule call could improve the quality of umpiring, knowing that the next blatantly bad call will result in public admonishment.